An odd-couple partnership is putting together a huge Eighth Avenue building site that can support a new office tower of up to 1 million square feet, The Post has learned.

In a rare joint venture, privately held Related, headed by Stephen Ross, and publicly traded Boston Properties, led by Mort Zuckerman, have teamed up to buy half of the east blockfront between 45th and 46th streets plus several buildings on both side streets.

The deals involve a half- dozen different sellers and are valued at a total $350 million. The deals are all in contract, but will not close until later this year.

Related and Boston are buying several small vacant tenements, a small hotel, a parking lot, an 8-story garage, and "floating" air rights harvested from other sites within the city's theater subdistrict.

The site's boundaries extend to the western wall of the Imperial Theater on 46th Street and of the Music Box on West 45th.

The fact that Related and Boston have formed a single entity to buy the 30,000 square-foot site does not necessarily mean they will stick with plans for an office tower.

"Manhattan is very unpredictable, and nothing is certain," an insider cautioned.

Nor does it mean Related and Boston will stop at the deals now on the table. Sources said they still covet five small buildings at the avenue block's south end.

Adding them would enable the developers to create an uninterrupted street wall the full length of the block.

The negotiations, conducted in secret for three years, reflect the frenzy for land on Eighth Avenue - the last frontier in central Midtown for large-scale development.

Reps for both Related and Boston declined to comment. Officials at Community Board 5, which vetted the air rights transfers, could not be reached.

Sources buzzed that Grubb & Ellis' Vincent Carrega was representing the sellers and had "engi neered" the multiple and complicated transactions, but he could not be reached yesterday.

Times Square Alli ance President Tim Tompkins said, "a de velopment of this signif icance will be another crucial building block in the redefinition of Eighth Avenue from neglected little brother to an adult that's finally come into its own."

Once grungy Eighth Avenue is in dramatic transformation. The Mid town stretch boasts the New York Times head quarters at 40th Street, Worldwide Plaza at 49th Street and the Hearst tower at 57th Street.

SJP Properties will break ground this summer on 11 Times Square, an office tower between 41st and 42nd streets. Boston Prop erties is putting the finish ing touches on an assem blage between 54th and 55th streets.

Investor-developers including Steven Witkoff have numerous development sites as well.

__________________NEW YORK. World's capital.

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.

If their paper trail is any evidence, the ungodly economy is not preventing Mort Zuckerman and Stephen Ross from moving forward with plans to build an enormous office tower at 740 Eighth Avenue.

Word of the tower has been seeping into the news since last year, when Boston Properties and Related Companies revealed they were putting together the project’s footprint by buying out about six property owners at a reported price of $350 million.

The tower—on the east side of Eighth Avenue, between 45th and 46th streets, alongside the Imperial Theater and the Music Box—could rival the neighboring SJP Properties’ 11 Times Square and the New York Times tower in size at a possible 1 million square feet.

On Oct. 23, the developers filed requests to transfer a total of 120,319 square feet of development rights from the Jacobs, Booth and Broadhurst theaters, all owned by the Shubert Organization. The development rights would, according to the documents, be used “to construct an office building.”

The developers also requested “a special permit to build a 406-space attended public parking lot” on the site.

Neither developer’s reps would comment for this story. But sources say that Related and Boston have promised a local parking lot owner a garage in the new tower in exchange for the right to buy his property.

The Department of City Planning is currently reviewing the applications. The seven-month land-use review process is slated to begin some time in the coming months. So the tower, if completed, might just rise in tandem with the economy.

__________________NEW YORK. World's capital.

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.

I feel like 8th is going to be the most impressive skyscraper canyon in 20 years... or maybe still behind 6th. It's just getting built up so quickly--and these buildings are genuinely canyon-like, with the NYTT and 11 Times Square not really being receded from the street. Oh, but this proposal, the PA tower, and the one on 55th are all very interesting.

I feel like 8th is going to be the most impressive skyscraper canyon in 20 years... or maybe still behind 6th. It's just getting built up so quickly--and these buildings are genuinely canyon-like, with the NYTT and 11 Times Square not really being receded from the street. Oh, but this proposal, the PA tower, and the one on 55th are all very interesting.

Times Square-area tower put on hold
Boston Properties and The Related Cos. pull back from Eighth Avenue project, take charges.

January 29, 2009

Boston Properties Inc. and The Related Cos. have put the breaks on ambitious plans to build an office tower in Times Square area.

The news was contained in the Boston Properties’ latest earnings report, which was released Thursday. That report showed that in the final quarter of the year the company recorded nearly $190 million in write downs and expenses related to three Manhattan office towers that it acquired from troubled real estate developer Harry Macklowe last year.

According to the earnings report, the two developers suspended work on the Eighth Avenue and 46th Street project in the fourth quarter. As a result of the suspension, Boston Properties reported a charge of about $23 million, which stems from forfeited contract deposits, planning and pre-development and other costs.

Boston Properties did not immediately return calls for comment, while Related declined to comment.

As recently as October, the developers had filed requests with the New York City Department of Planning to transfer 120,000 square feet of development rights from three nearby theaters on Eighth Avenue between 45th and 46th streets that are owned by the Shubert Organization. The rights were to be used to add extra stories to the planned tower. In addition, the developers had requested a special permit to build a 406-space public parking lot on the site. The applications for the transfer were officially withdrawn on Jan. 12, according to the Department of City Planning Web site.

Separately, Boston Properties reported Wednesday $188 million of impairment charges during the fourth quarter of 2008 due to the decline in fair value of some of its office properties in Manhattan. The company’s total charges for the quarter also included the expenses associated with the scrapped Times Square project.

Last year, it bought the three office towers—540 Madison Ave., Two Grand Central Tower and 125 West 55th St.—from Harry Macklowe for $1.1 billion at the same time it acquired the General Motors Building for $2.8 billion from Mr. Macklowe’s bank.

__________________NEW YORK. World's capital.

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.

During one of the bleakest months in recent memory, November 2008, Mort Zuckerman and Stephen Ross moved forward with plans to build a tower between 45th and 46th streets to rival nearby 11 Times Square. They bought up six property owners at a reported price of $350 million.

More than two years and a number of delays later, assemblage is complete, according to Cassidy Turley. A spokeswoman for Mr. Ross’ Related Companies said no further information was available.

__________________NEW YORK. World's capital.

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.

Nice to see this empty lot might finally get developed, even though the tower looks pretty dull. Hopefully Glenwood can get their tower across the street moving as well and another 8th Ave parking lot will bite the dust.

True, this thread is for the site on the east side of Eighth. However, I believe babyback is correct. The address on the site of 301 West 46th indicates that it is the first address on the block between Eighth and Ninth, therefore the west side of Eighth. As far as the status of this tower you've just shown, I have no idea, but I don't believe this is proposed for the 740 site.

__________________"Also, to be frank, I like dense cities best and care about them most." from The Death And Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs.